19-12-2021 Summary of the 9th annual report of the FG “Bienenfresser” of the DO-G by Hans-Valentin Bastian
In 2021, the number of breeding pairs of the bee-eater in Germany has increased again. Most of the data are available, although breeding populations were estimated in some regions. Considering the estimations, 5.300-5.900 pairs of bee-eaters bred in Germany in 2021, and the pre-breeding population -assuming a certain pro-portion of breeding helpers- was 11.500-13.000 individuals. Overall, we estimate a growth rate of 6%-8% compared to the previous year, with particularly strong increases in breeding numbers in Bavaria, Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, Brandenburg, Hesse and Lower Saxony. The breeding density in Germany was 1.5 BP/100 km², with only Saxony-Anhalt, Baden-Wuerttemberg, Rhineland-Palatinate and Saxony showing above average numbers.
In total, currently the Bee-eater database stores records of ca. 36,000 broods (31,000 from Germany).
The expected focus issue on the European Bee-eater will be published with 14 articles in VOL 3/2021 of the journal “VOGELWARTE”; currently the revision of the articles is in progress.
A longer list of publications on the Bee-eater is listed because an extensive literature search was conducted for the preparation of the species review in "Birds of the World".
Link to the 9th annual report of the FG "Bienenfresser" of 2021.